Gary H Hunt

Commercial real estate brokerage giant Grubb & Ellis Co., with its stock getting battered in a softening market, announced Friday that its chief executive had resigned and that it would repurchase as much as $25 million worth of its own stock. The Santa Ana company, which helps arrange sales and leases of such properties as office buildings, stores and warehouses, said CEO and President Scott D. Peters, 50, stepped down "to pursue other interests."

Gary H. Hunt, who for 20 years has been one of Orange County's most visible and influential corporate executives, announced suddenly Wednesday that he is leaving the Irvine Co., effective today. As executive vice president and in many people's eyes the right-hand man to Chairman Donald L. Bren, Hunt oversaw the Irvine Co. staff responsible for government relations, environmental affairs and community relations.

The resignation of a key aide to Irvine Co. owner Donald L. Bren, the latest in a series of executive departures, comes at a time the 107-year-old real estate company is facing setbacks on local projects and is changing its business strategy. Gary H. Hunt, 52,a 25-year company veteran who quit unexpectedly as the company's top political strategist, is one of eight high-ranking executives who have left the Newport Beach developer in the last year.